


Secret's Out

by HogwartsToAlexandria



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, CG/L, Caregiver Bucky Barnes, Caregiver Steve Rogers, Cuddling, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Exhaustion, Fluff, Littles Are Known, M/M, Non-Sexual Age Play, Revelation, Wiping Tears, daddy Steve Rogers, daddy bucky barnes, little Tony Stark, soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-03
Updated: 2020-10-03
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:01:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,298
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26654845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HogwartsToAlexandria/pseuds/HogwartsToAlexandria
Summary: In a world where people are aligned according to their being littles, neutrals or caregivers, Tony is a little in the age range of 8 months to 12 months and because he’s been told all his life that no one would ever want him if they knew, he kept his little alignment a secret from everyone.But he deserves a rest now, and luckily, Steve and Bucky are very ready to help him get it.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Comments: 13
Kudos: 527
Collections: Stuckony Summer Stocking 2020





	Secret's Out

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Fearlesslexi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fearlesslexi/gifts).
  * In response to a prompt by [Fearlesslexi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fearlesslexi/pseuds/Fearlesslexi) in the [stuckony_summer_stocking_2020](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/stuckony_summer_stocking_2020) collection. 



> Heya dear! I sincerely hope you like this. Non-sexual age play is one of my favorite things to read and write and seeing your request I just Had to write something for you 😘

If there was one thing Tony Stark had tried to avoid at all costs, and by using all possible means at his disposal, it was being discovered as a little by the two people he was closest to — save for Pep and Rhodey but that should be obvious enough — and who he so dearly wanted to be loved by. It had worked, up to a point. That point being Tony's own fall down exhaustion land. Because, if there was one thing he wasn't nor had ever been great at, it was taking proper care of himself. 

But what did littles always need more than anything — except maybe, love — in the whole wide world?

Rest. Littles needed rest, so much more of it than caregivers did. 

And so there went Tony Stark's secret, on an afternoon of January, when all that welcomed him home after an Avenging mission was his cold lab and his cheerful but non-physically there A.I. and his body and mind said stop all at once. He slipped. He slipped harder than he had in years.

It could have been a terrible thing. A day marked by darkness and big, ugly baby tears streaking his cheeks as he slipped alone, but that was counting without Steve having followed him to the workshop almost step for step. That was counting without the fact that Steve had been watching Tony a little more closely than usual for a while, waiting to see how long he'd stay without properly resting, ready to collect him when he crashed. 

Did Steve expect Tony's state when he asked Jarvis to let him into the lab? No, he did not. 

But did he hate Tony's guts and wish to never see him ever again like Tony had thought he would should he discover his secret? Never in a million years. 

"Oh Tony," Steve whispered, his steps intentionally lighter once he'd caught a glimpse of the other man and Jarvis's  _ "be gentle" _ had started making sense. 

He knelt by Tony's side, watching him rock back and forth with his head in his arms and his arms on his drawn-up knees. Steve hesitated to reach for him for all of three seconds. The moment Tony looked up from behind his arms, the very moment Steve saw Tony's big brown eyes filled with tears of fear and fatigue, immediately followed by his wobbly bottom lip and the youthful gasp he let out, Steve lost it. Every instinct he'd ever had to care for littles came out, and his brain kicked into gear without stopping to consider the fact that Tony being a little was news in the first place. 

He just picked him up. Gently. 

Steve gathered Tony to him, encouraging him to loop his arms and legs around him and caressing the back of his neck as he softly pushed Tony's face against his neck, as close to his pulse point as he could. 

"It's okay now, it's all gonna be okay Tony," Steve said, almost cooing but not quite yet. 

"St-- Steeve," Tony stuttered, his hands fisting in the back of Steve's shirt as he seemed to overcome his first bout of tears. He gasped again a minute later though, and Steve had to tighten his hold on him not to drop him when Tony tensed, whispering to himself in the most scared, most heartbreaking voice Steve had ever heard him in. "M'secret!" 

"You don't have to keep it secret anymore sweetheart, you can stop, I promise, no need to worry," Steve told him, finally walking to the couch he and Bucky liked to occupy when they came down here. 

He sat down with Tony still cradled in his arms, taking advantage of the change in positions nonetheless — he could make eye contact with Tony more easily now. 

"Do you trust me?" He whispered, and when Tony just blinked at him with his big eyes even wider than usual, Steve wiped a stray tear off his face and repeated, "Do you want Steve to be your daddy, darling?" 

"Sir would certainly rather tell this himself Captain, but he is generally very young when he reaches these levels of exhaustion, and he slips further the more time passes and the more comfortable he is." 

Steve nodded, smiling when Tony pawed a little clumsily at his cheek. 

"Da- Daddy?" he tried, like he hadn't used the word either ever or close to. 

Steve's heart gave a thump, and he nodded. And then they both jumped—

"Daddy??" 

To say Bucky's sounded shocked was one thing, but his face? His face told a whole different kind of story. Steve grinned, feeling himself grow misty-eyed too. Bucky walked slowly, the careful hope in his eyes and the way he kept his metal hand balled in his pocket… Steve knew what was going through his mind. He couldn't even count how many times they had imagined this day together, whether with actual words or refusing to say them anymore because it didn't feel fair to Tony to wish he would be someone he wasn't when he was so great either way, and they loved him so much and wished he'd see it. 

But Tony  _ was  _ a little. And they were both caregivers. Two guys who had been languishing for this very man who turned out to be exactly everything they both needed and wanted. And he'd kept it a secret for reasons Steve feared to imagine. 

Tony's grip on the lapels of Steve's shirt was as tight as his slipped strengths would let him, and he hadn't looked at Bucky since he'd startled, instead choosing to stare at Steve with too many questions for his mind to process. Steve knew the soft circles he was drawing on his back were only calming him enough for him not to cry, he knew they needed to soothe him out of so much worry quicker than they were doing. But he couldn't blame Bucky for needing to process another minute. 

"Come here love," he said, extending Bucky a hand from the couch, making a come hither motion for him until Bucky grabbed his hand and he could pull him down next to them. "Come meet baby Tony." 

Steve watched the both of them, Bucky's blue eyes as wide as Tony's browns. The tentative way Bucky smiled at Tony and the even slower way he brought his hand to Tony's cheek, and softly, so softly, pressed his palm to Tony's face, and then petted his hair. 

"Baby Tony? Not big boy Tony?" Bucky asked, surprise both fake and real, both revealing his delight and his shock. 

Tony giggled, and shook his head.

"Baby," Tony babbled, pointing to his own chest, but still, his body language was too tight. Too reserved. 

But of course Bucky saw it too, two caregivers for one baby, and as he unclasped one of Tony's hand from Steve's shirt, he glanced at Steve, then back into Tony's eyes as he asked. 

"And what does baby Tony say to having… two daddies?" 

Steve knew the very real insecurity behind the words and the confidence Bucky gave off, all for Tony's benefit. He knew the months upon months of hope, and before that the years and decades of having this spot in both their hearts empty, waiting for the perfect little to complete them. Tony could and would be this little, if he wanted them. 

"Dadda," Tony tapped his pointer finger against Steve's sternum, and then very seriously, looking into Bucky's eyes, he nodded, and repeated the motion with Bucky's, "Dadda." 

Steve couldn't contain the delighted laugh it pulled out of him, and Bucky followed suit quickly enough. He sounded as choked up as Steve imagined he would be, and Tony finally relaxed. 

They would be okay. Everything would be okay. 


End file.
